death by distribution Archives - Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina fentvic.org

RALEIGH MAN CHARGED AFTER WENDELL WOMAN, 56, DIES FROM FENTANYL HE ALLEGEDLY SOLD HER

Read the original article on the HoodLine.com website.

A 35-year-old Raleigh man has been charged with death by distribution after a 56-year-old Wendell woman fatally overdosed on fentanyl she allegedly bought from him. Jimmie Gerrell McKinnie was already sitting in jail on other Wake County charges when investigators tied him to the woman’s death, and he remained jailed without bail as of Wednesday morning.

According to the Raleigh News & Observer, McKinnie is charged with death by distribution and conspiracy to sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance. Court records cited by the paper show the alleged fentanyl sale happened on June 18, 2025, and public records indicate the woman died the very next day, June 19, 2025.

How Investigators Say They Caught McKinnie Selling Fentanyl

The case against McKinnie did not start with the Wendell woman’s death. The News & Observer’s report notes that the Raleigh Police Department opened an investigation into him in February 2025 after receiving an anonymous complaint alleging he was selling fentanyl. That inquiry led to a separate charge: trafficking fentanyl by possession tied to a February 2025 incident, for which McKinnie posted a $3,000 secured bail bond, court records show.

The same reporting states that investigators later witnessed McKinnie selling suspected drugs to a woman at a Burger King on Rock Quarry Road. The account also describes a March search application that described McKinnie himself as a validated gang member, and it references a confidential informant who obtained a price quote from McKinnie for fentanyl.

A Long History of Drug Charges in Wake County

Court records reviewed by the outlet show McKinnie has been convicted of drug-related charges several times in Wake County, including a possession of heroin conviction in May 2019. By the time the death by distribution charge was filed, he was already being held in jail on several pending Wake County charges, and per the same account, he remained in custody without bail as of Wednesday morning.

North Carolina has a controlled-substances statute maintained by the North Carolina General Assembly.

Resources for Wake County Residents

Wake County runs a drug overdose prevention coalition that connects residents to educational resources and tracks metrics like treatment access, according to the county’s Wake County government page. The county also references a methadone clinic in North Raleigh that offers medication-assisted therapy and counseling for people seeking help overcoming addiction to heroin, fentanyl and other opioids, per the county’s opioid settlement page.

2nd arrest made in Wake County woman’s deadly overdose in 2025, deputies say

Read the original article and watch the video on the CBS17 website.

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A second arrest was announced Thursday after an arrest earlier this week in connection with a woman’s deadly overdose in Wake County last summer, according to a Wake County Sheriff’s Office news release.

According to a warrant filed by the Wake County Sheriff’s Office, Jimmie Gerrell McKinnie of Raleigh is accused of selling fentanyl to Jessica Anne Basinger on June 18, 2025, which caused her death.

Basinger, 56, of Wendell, died the following day, leaving behind her husband, four children, and two grandchildren, according to her obituary.

Her friends told CBS 17 News that the community misses her. She lived in the same neighborhood along Pointers Glen Way in Wendell for more than twenty years.

“It was a shock. She had gone through hard times, but she was a great person,” one neighbor said. “She had a will to fight and keep going.”

The warrant shows McKinnie, who was arrested Tuesday, is also accused of conspiring to deliver the fentanyl. Thomas Carroll, 30, was arrested in the case on Thursday with help from the Asheville Police Department, the sheriff’s office news release said.

McKinnie, 35, was charged with death by distribution by sale and conspiracy to deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, according to court records.

Carroll was charged with felony death by distribution sale and felony conspire sell/deliver a schedule II controlled substance, the sheriff’s office said.

According to records, McKinnie made his first appearance in Wake County court on Wednesday and was not given bond. His next appearance has not been scheduled as of Wednesday.

Carroll is being held in the Buncombe County Detention Facility without bond.

The Wake County Sheriff’s Office said the incident remains under investigation.

Records show McKinnie was convicted of three felonies in Wake County between 2014 and 2019, which were one count attempted common law robbery and two counts of possession of heroin.

In February, according to records, McKinnie was indicted in Wake County Superior Court on a habitual felon charge due to his three convictions.

According to records, McKinnie also has active felony cases against him from the Raleigh Police Department. He is charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by a felon in connection with a shooting last November and possession with intent to sell/deliver marijuana in connection with an incident in March.

Boone Woman Charged in Connection With Son’s Fatal Overdose

Reads the original article on the Watauga Online website.

A Boone woman has been charged with death by distribution in connection with the November 2025 overdose death of her son, according to court records and reporting by multiple media outlets.

Shari Rogers Treadway, 66, of Boone, a former nurse at Watauga Medical Center, was arrested Wednesday evening, Sept. 16, by the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant from the Boone Police Department. She faces a charge of death by distribution (delivery), a Class C felony, in addition to embezzlement and drug diversion charges. Court dates are scheduled for Oct. 5 and Oct. 19.

Court documents list Nov. 6, 2025, as the date of the offenses. Investigators allege that Treadway, who had access to controlled substances through her nursing position, diverted Adderall and hydromorphone — both Schedule II controlled substances — and that she delivered fentanyl and cocaine to her son, Seth Treadway, that same day. The ingestion of those substances is alleged to have proximately caused his death.

The embezzlement and drug diversion charge was originally filed in January and was indicted by a Watauga County grand jury in March. The North Carolina Board of Nursing has since suspended Treadway’s license. In its filing, the board said some of the controlled substances found in her home “allegedly matched the hospital lot numbers” tied to inventory missing from Watauga Medical Center. The board also confirmed that Seth Treadway was her son.

Death by distribution is a felony under North Carolina law (G.S. 14-18.4), enacted in 2019 and expanded in 2023 in response to the opioid crisis. The law applies when someone unlawfully delivers or sells certain controlled substances and a user dies as a proximate result.

Woman Charged In Death Case

Read the original article on the WHKY News website.

TAYLORSVILLE, N.C. (WACB) – A Boone woman was arrested Wednesday evening (September 16) by the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant from Boone connected to a death case. The Boone Police Department issued a warrant naming 66-year-old Shari Rogers Treadway. The charge is felony death by distribution.

According to our news partner WACB, the charge involves the suspect allegedly supplying fentanyl and cocaine to a user who died. Court records state the offense occurred November 6, 2025. Treadway has a previous pending charge from January in Watauga County for felony embezzle/divert a controlled substance. The suspect was indicted on the charge by a Watauga County Grand Jury in March.

Treadway was transferred to the Watauga County Detention Center according to Alexander County Sheriff Chad Pennell. Court dates are scheduled for October 5 and 19.

Alexander County Deputies Serve Warrant To Woman Wanted For Death By Distribution

Read the original article on the B86 Radio website.

A Boone woman was arrested Wednesday evening by the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office.

The Boone Police Department issued a warrant naming 66-year-old Shari Rogers Treadway. The charge is felony death by distribution. The charge involves the suspect allegedly supplying fentanyl and cocaine to a user who died.

Treadway has a previous pending charge from January in Watauga County for felony embezzle/divert a controlled substance. The suspect was indicted on the charge by a Watauga County Grand Jury in March.

Treadway is being transferred to the Watauga County Detention Center as of noon today according to Alexander County Sheriff Chad Pennell.

Photo: Alexander County Sheriff’s Office

Two charged in overdose death

Read the original article on the Dublin Times website.

ROSE HILL — An overdose death on Monday, Aug. 10, led to the arrest of two individuals, who now face felony charges. Deputies with the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call on Powell Page Road in the Rose Hill area Monday, where Christopher Tucker, 33, was found deceased inside a residence. The death appeared to be the result of an overdose, according to an Aug. 11 Facebook post from the sheriff’s office.

The Duplin County Operations Division of the sheriff’s office investigated the death and subsequently arrested and charged 20-year-old Jordan Bass and 29-year-old Hailee Thompson in connection with Tucker’s death.

Bass was charged with one felony count of death by distribution, while Thompson was charged with one felony count of conspiracy of death by distribution.

Both are being held in the Duplin County Jail under no bond.

Two arrested in Duplin County fentanyl overdose death

DUPLIN COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – Two people are behind bars on overdose charges after Duplin County deputies found a dead man inside a home yesterday.

Deputies said they were called to a home on Powell Page Road and found 33-year-old Christopher Tucker dead from a fentanyl overdose.

Jordan Bass, 20, was charged with death by distribution, while 29-year-old Hailee Thompson was charged with conspiracy of death by distribution.

Both are being held in jail without bond.

Aurora man Tyran Dixon sentenced in fentanyl overdose death case

Read the original article on the WCTI ABC12 News website.

An Aurora man has been sentenced to prison following a fatal fentanyl overdose and narcotics investigation, according to the Beaufort County District Attorney’s Office.

Tyran Dixon pleaded guilty on Aug. 12 to death by distribution, trafficking in fentanyl, trafficking in methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also admitted to violating probation, according to the Beaufort County DA’s office.

The case stems from the December 2023 death of 24-year-old Jaquan Cannon. The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office found Cannon unresponsive inside a vehicle on Peedtown Road in Aurora. The Beaufort County DA’s office said a toxicology report determined he died from acute fentanyl toxicity.

Investigators determined Cannon arranged to purchase fentanyl from Dixon the night before his death, according to the district attorney’s office. In May 2024, a search of Dixon’s Aurora residence uncovered trafficking amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Superior Court Judge Seth Edwards sentenced Dixon to 110 to 144 months for death by distribution, 90 to 120 months for fentanyl trafficking and 70 to 93 months for methamphetamine trafficking. Those sentences will run concurrently.

The Beaufort County DA’s office said that Dixon has to serve at least 110 months, or 9 years and 2 months, before becoming eligible for release. That sentence will begin after Dixon serves an additional 10 to 21 months for his probation violation.

Aurora man gets 12 years in overdose death

BEAUFORT COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – An Aurora man will spend the next 12 years in state prison after his guilty plea in a drug overdose death case.

Beaufort County District Attorney Tom Anglim says Tyran Dixon pleaded guilty to death by distribution, trafficking in fentanyl, trafficking in methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The man also admitted to violating terms of a probationary sentence he was serving when the death happened.

Jaquan Cannon was found dead on December 11, 2023 inside a vehicle on Peedtown Road outside of Aurora.

Anglim says their investigation showed that Cannon bought fentanyl from Dixon the day before he died.

Judge Seth Edwards sentenced Dixon to serve between 9 years, 2 months and 12 years on the death and drug charges, and between 10 months and a year, 9 months for the probation violation.

The judge also ordered Dixon to pay a $750,000 fine and restitution to Cannon’s family.

Recorded overdoses in NC down 27% midway through 2026. Local departments warn of fentanyl spike

Read the original article and watch the video on the WRAL News website.

Data from the Department of Health and Human Services shows midway through 2026, North Carolina is seeing a 27% reduction of reported opioid overdoses across state emergency departments.

Between January and June, to include six months of DHHS data, there are 2,031 reported opioid overdoses in the state. That’s down by more than 700 overdoses compared to the same period of time last year.

Illicit opioids, which includes fentanyl, make up more than half of the emergency department visits in the state.

This comes six months after WRAL reported that North Carolina, as a state, saw another consecutive year of declining opioid and fentanyl overdose numbers. An analysis of state health data showed that opioid overdose hospitalizations had decreased by more than 20% in the last year, marking two consecutive years of declining emergency department visits in North Carolina. The same data source shows similar trends for fentanyl positive deaths, which decreased by 24% in the last year.

Even still, local police departments are issuing public safety notices about localized spikes in suspected fentanyl.

In Fayetteville, policer offers report an increase of overdoses believed to be caused by fentanyl in the local community.

“The increase has prompted concern that particularly potent or contaminated illegal drugs may currently be circulating in the Fayetteville area,” a spokesperson for the department said.

This rare spike comes as Cumberland County is experiencing a drastic reduction in overdoses reported to hospitals. Monthly DHHS data shows there are 33 reported cases so far this year, down from 95 over the same window of time last year.

Illicit opioids, which includes fentanyl, make up more than half of the emergency department visits in the state.

Even still, local police departments are issuing public safety notices about localized spikes in suspected fentanyl.

In Fayetteville, policer offers report an increase of overdoses believed to be caused by fentanyl in the local community.

“The increase has prompted concern that particularly potent or contaminated illegal drugs may currently be circulating in the Fayetteville area,” a spokesperson for the department said.

By the numbers: Hospitalizations, deaths track down

Statewide, North Carolina recorded 4,960 emergency department visits related to opioid overdoses in 2025. That marks a 21% decrease in the last year, and a 48% decrease since 2023 when the state recorded a record number of 9,624.

In total, overdose emergency department visits decreased by 14% between 2024 and 2025. Last year’s 10,627 cases still mark a 43% reduction since 2023.

Total Overdose Emergency Department visits

WRAL analyzed data across the Raleigh area, including the North Carolina counties that surround the capital city. Eight counties did not offer county-level reporting. The year-over-year data revealed that rural counties are among those that have seen the largest gains in opioid hospitalization reduction from a per capita standpoint.

“Since the spike stream of the pandemic, we’re following national trends and exceeding national trends. Not only state but county-level data,” Dr. Kelly Crosbie says, Director of DHHS’ Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services